His statement yesterday—and we shall see this gathering as the
days go by—has shocked the moral conscience of the world, it has
hardened the forces of dictatorship and militarism everywhere, it
has humbled the people of this land, who gave their allegiance a
little over two years ago to political leaders who stood for a new
way of dealing with this centuries-old problem of international
difficulties. It is because of that that we have put down this Vote
of Censure. It is a challenge to the Government, a challenge to
explain to the people why the election manifesto of 1935 has been
torn up and trampled upon. It is a challenge to meet the people
and to ask them for a mandate for this new, contradictory policy/*
The Prime Minister rose to reply at half-past four.